Dear Apple: Make the Mac Pro “Pro” Again

When the reinvented Mac Pro was unveiled, the jokes came immediately, along with a mixed reaction among pro users. There was plenty of skepticism (akin to the Final Cut Pro X announcement), which largely proved to be justified after the new Mac Pro landed on users’ desks.

Of course, it was fast and did some things really well but it was not an improvement in design over its predecessor. The ridiculous amount of cables needed for basic connectivity and extending funcationality was a nightmare.

Like the new iPhones and MacBook Pros, Apple is pushing “features” in the Mac Pro that are revolutionary technical achievements that serve no practical purpose – especially for professional users.

Apple has promised that a reinvisioned Mac Pro is coming in 2019 and that it will be “modular.” While this sounds great and what we’ve been asking for since the trash can surfaced, I can’t help but think Apple is going to mess this up too.

As it continues to raise prices, Apple’s iPhone unit sales numbers are down. On the “pro” side of things, Apple starts its iMac Pro at $5000. Whatever Apple does to its upcoming Mac Pro, expect the starting price to dwarf all prior models, which will put it out of reach for all but high-end professional customers.

If Apple had any idea of the pulse of the middle-class pro, it would produce mild (if any) design upgrades to the Mac Pro tower we last saw in 2012. The only thing we asked for in the upgrade to the Mac Pro tower was an upgraded logic board with modern I/O. At the time, that was faster SATA channels, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt. Basically, just give us the equivalent of a modern PC workstation with relevant I/O for 2019.

The Mac Pro tower is already an industrial work of art. The swappable hard drive bays were such a beautiful touch. Keep those – or even make them 2.5″ for the continually decreasing prices of SSD drives. Instead of soldering the storage drive to the logic board, go with swappable NVME drives. We also need to be able to upgrade GPUs with off-the-shelf options by ourselves. We need to be able to replace RAM ourselves. If you want pro users to be Apple fans again, you’ve got to meet us half way.

Look, I don’t want to switch my work computers to Windows but Apple is making it really hard to keep using computers that I can’t upgrade. I’ve still got a 2010 Mac Pro and a 2011 MacBook Pro kicking along, which is awesome – it really is a testament to the quality and the ecosystem. I’ve got Windows 10 computers in my house that are okay and I’ll buy or build a pro system to use if I need to – but I’d rather not.

While many long-time Mac users jumped ship after that 2013 trash can fiasco, I stuck around for another generation. If Apple gets too cute with the next Mac Pro, that’s likely it for me though. Lately, I’ve been eyeing notebooks from Lenovo as I start to think beyond this limited, clicky MacBook Pro with 4 USB-C ports. And HP’s Z series workstations make a compelling case for the creative pro. Give me a reason to stick around for the next generation, Apple.

Put the “pro” back in the Mac Pro.

If there was still any lingering doubt, this is what “pro” in a Mac Pro looks like.

Comments

I ended up moving to a mac Mini (3.2 -core i7, 64GB RAM, 1TB HD) in the latest refresh because my Pro was just not keeping up any more. I plan to use this mini till the new Pro’s come out and then move the mini over to be a HTPC — assuming Apple does the next Pro right

It seems to me that Apple under Mr Cook has replaced the mantra of “make the best customer experience!” with “make more money by nickel and diming the sheep”.

My iMac 27″ 2017 model is hardly better than the 2013 model it replaced, and lost Thunderbolt connectivity (oh sure, cable get adapters, ’cause more of them is always a good thing) as well as the ability to use both slots of my OWC dual drive SATA dock simultaneously, which is due to a change Apple made (according to the OWC tech). When my iPad mini “suddenly” required me to use the official Apple branded wall wart after an iOS upgrade, where the generic ones I used previously were just fine, I could only imagine it was in order to push users to buy their overpriced unit. If they were to do that with the iPhone I’m sure all hell would break loose, but I guess they figured iPad users were a less noisy lot. And let’s not discuss the crap that happens with various iOS upgrades on the iPhone.

In all, it’s moved me to the position of intending to replace my current stuff with non-Apple when the time comes. Cook, the bean counter, has won.

Customers need to look over at what Dell is doing with the top XPS mid-towers which are very customizable with easy accessible hard-drives and Ram side access and this thing is designed for high end video users with 6 core i7 and loaded features in many configurations. One of the best arguments to go windows with a relatively not overly costly priced high end system (usually well below Mac’s equivalent.
The design of the XPS 8930 systems have dramatically involved in recent years to be highly productive. Power and performance is not the sole domain of Apple like years ago for designers and videographers and photographers.

Have fun if you leave Apple – Microsoft trashed my Windows set up a year or so ago, and even though they knew it was their own fault, they dumped and ran. I had a support contract with them, and they just cancelled it and refunded the money.
Apple, on the other hand, has provided gold or silver support for my MAC ever since I bought the first one. My current MAC is also 2010 (an iMAC, not a MAC Pro). And sometime in the next 6 months I intend to replace it, because some of the software coming onto the market won’t work on High Sierra & Mojave won’t work on gear this old.
But apart from that, I have never had an issue with Apple.
And after my last experience with Microsoft, the devil will arrive at work on ice skates before I consider buying anything further from them.

That’s really the rub with the whole PC experience… dealing with Windows. But Apple’s hardware decisions are almost frustrating enough to push me there. (Lot’s of pros have already left.) And Linux isn’t broadly supported for creative pro software. Would love to see Adobe make an OS for creative pros. http://photographybay.com/2011/07/23/the-case-for-adobe-os/

I have a 2009 Mac Pro that I’ve been upgrading as needed. It can still be updated with various components.

I replaced the original quad core CPU with a hex core. I performed a simple firmware flash that makes it identify itself as a 2010 Mac Pro. All Mac Pros after 2010 were essentially the same through the final model in 2012.

The firmware flash enabled my Mac to use faster and larger RAM sticks. Instead of 16GB max, I’m able to use 64GB now.

I’ve installed USB3 in an empty rear slot above an upgraded graphics card. The point is if you really want a powerful Mac Pro, as long as you have a “cheese grater” you already own it. You just need to get your hands dirty swapping and replacing components.

And yes it is still a Mac Pro and it runs the latest Mojave. My roommates have last years best iMac and my lumbering beast runs circles around it.

I use my Mac for both photography and photogrammetry and it can perform with aplomb even while having multiple programs running (like Plex, Agisoft Photoscan, Lightroom and Safari).

Hold onto your Mac Pros. There is a lot more life left in them than you think.